WHICH LIFE MATTERS?

Gaurav Kundi, a father, 42,
Drunk one night, walking out, no clue,
A minor argument with his wife,
Just like any couple in daily life.

But to the police, it was “domestic strife,”
Dragged him to the street, no cause to believe,
He screamed, "I didn’t do anything!"
She begged, “Please, leave him, we’re just talking.”

His wife filmed, terrified and in shock,
Until the knee came down, a brutal block.
His breath went shallow, his life slipped by,
But the world turned deaf, no one asked why.

George Floyd, a man with a criminal past,
His death sparked riots, voices amassed.
The world screamed for justice, for Black lives to rise,
But Kundi, an innocent, met no such cries.

The police said he fought, with violent might,
But the footage showed otherwise, no fight in sight.
“I didn’t do anything,” he yelled in fear,
Yet the world didn’t hear, no one drew near.

The injuries were brutal—neck, head, and pain,
The cause of death was clear and plain.
But the Commissioner spoke with calm, cold grace,
"No knee on neck, no injury’s trace."

No protests, no outcry, no media’s call,
Just silence—Kundi’s death erased by it all.
While Floyd’s name echoed through streets and skies,
Kundi’s name was buried in unseen eyes.

Innocent lives are not all the same,
Some are treated like victims, others in shame.
For George Floyd, the world screamed loud and clear,
But Kundi’s life vanished, no one would hear.

Does Indian life matter, when none raise their voice?
In a world that picks and chooses its choice.
Kundi’s death passed, unnoticed, untold,
While the world rallied, for stories of gold.

Tomorrow, it could be me, or you, or more,
In tatters, unseen, with no one to implore.
But when we fall, who will say, who will shout,
"WHICH LIFE MATTERS?"—or will silence drown out?


*Note:* I am writing and posting this poem in urgency, after reading a disturbing news from Adelaide, Australia, where an innocent man of Indian origin was killed by police in hauntingly similar way like that of George Floyd. But there has been no media coverage, public outcry or protests, and the culprits seem to have been given clean cheat by the police force and government, with commissioner denying any foul play, despite autopsy revealing brutal injuries to neck and head as cause of death. https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/gaurav-kundi-indian-origin-man-australia-cops-kneel-neck-13893992.html
https://www.theaustraliatoday.com.au/police-excessive-force-arrest-victim-gaurav-kundi-dies-in-hospital-indian-australian-community-demands-answers/